and congress can't make a deal on theso-calledfiscalcliff. asource of great concern for so many people, everyone's taxes will go up, will go up if there's no deal. let's go live to our white house correspondent dan lothian. he's on the scene for us over at the white house. how did it go, dan? >> reporter: well, wolf, we've seen the president do this before in the past whenever he's locked in negotiations with lawmakers. he heads out on the road, either goes to a backyard or sits down around a dinner table to put pressure on congress. that's what he did today when he went to falls church sitting down with the santana family. their parents who also are employed live in the household with them. so if taxes do go up on middle class americans, the overall hit on that household will be $4,000. so they're very concerned, but they were quite happy. they said it isn't every day that the president comes by and hangs out at your house. the message the president was trying to drive home today was aimed directly at congress and using this backdrop to tell a personal story. >> for them to be burdene

. >> a nice collector. >> absolutely. >>> when it comes to avoiding theso-calledfiscalcliff, wheredo we stand in washington's version of let's make a deal? we'll break down the negotiations with two top political strategists, ari fleischer and paul begala are both standing by live right here in "the situation room." [ gordon ] for some this line is a convenience. how you doing today? i'm good thanks. how are you? i'm good. [ gordon ] but for others, it's all they can afford. every day nearly nine million older americans don't have enough to eat. anything else? no, not today. join me, aarp, and aarp foundation in the drive to end hunger by visiting drivetoendhunger.org. [ male announcer ] can a car be built around a state of mind? ♪ announcing the all-new 2013 malibu from chevrolet. ♪ with a remarkable new interior featuring the available chevrolet mylink infotainment system. this is where sophisticated styling begins. and where it ends? that's up to you. it's here -- the greatest malibu ever. ♪ now is a good time to think about your options. are you looking for a plan that really

increases and spending cuts that people hereinwashingtoncallthefiscalcliff. mosthouse members are going home today with only 27 days to make a deal. two house leaders who are not going home are with me in the situation room. they're working very hard to avoid the fiscal cliff. thanks so much for coming in. for so long, republicans wanted to extend the bush tax cuts forever, now for 98% of the american people, the democrats are saying, we're ready. we've given up, we'll let you have those bush tax cuts for as long as possible. let's just resolve that, we'll move on to some of the tougher issues later. let's make sure that 98% of the american families have these lower tax rates into next year. why not give that? >> the debate over those top two pshsz, is really a strong man debate. what we need is tax reform in america. we need a simpler less complicated tax code. >> i agree with you. we need a tax reform. why not resolve this one issue, make sure taxes don't increase for 98% of the americans, 100% of americans for their first $250,000 a year. let them have that, and then move o

. ifthefiscalcliffhitsand nothing changes. as you go and look at the first group of folks here, talk about people who make very little money, up to $20,000 or $20,000 to $40,000. this yellow part represents the current amount of taxes folks are paying out there. if the fiscal cliff hits and nothing changes, this group would pay about $400 more. this group down here would pay about $1,200 more. that doesn't seem like a whether or not he will lot of money, but against that kind of income it's pretty big. move to the next category. if you go to $40,000 to $64,000 in income or $64,000 to $108,000, you see the green area's much bigger. that's because there are a lot of taxpayers like this. and they're paying a fairly sizable amount. but if they're out there and the fiscal cliff goes all the way through and nothing stops it, look what's going to happen. almost $2,000 more for this group. that's what you would have to pay if you're in that group. and look down here at the other one down here, $64,000 to $108,000, $3,500 more on that. and as you move up it gets even more so. go to this group, peop